Different Uses of Language in Major Gifts

All of us in major gifts know that there are different stages in the major-gift process. Many brilliant major-gift people have written about it. Words like identification, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship come to mind as descriptors of some major stages or phases of major gifts.

But we often encounter some confusion in major-gift officer communication to donors around the use of “ask” language vs. “results or reporting back” language.

In some regards, the very nature of these two languages are polar opposites.